Extradition Of Former Bosnian General 'Unthinkable'

Austria's foreign minister says the extradition of a former Bosnian army general to Serbia over war crimes allegations would be "unthinkable."

Austrian police arrested the former general, Jovan Divjak, at Vienna airport on March 3 on a Serbian arrest warrant. He is one of a group of 19 Bosnian officials charged by Serbia over an attack on a Yugoslav army column in Sarajevo early in the 1992-1995 war.

Divjak, an ethnic Serb who joined the Bosnian forces in the war, is seen as a hero in Sarajevo.

On March 5, some 5,000 people demonstrated peacefully in Sarajevo for his release.

Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelleger told the "Kurier" newspaper that "according to our international law experts, [Divjak's] extradition to Serbia is inconceivable."

A British court last year arrested a member of Bosnia's wartime presidency, Ejup Ganic, on the same warrant from Serbia but later released him, saying the charges were unfounded.compiled from agency reports